It was midnight New York time, nine P.m. in San Jose. Sonoron was closed for the day, but a night operator at the company's answering service gave Janek an emergency number. When he called it, he was connected to a Ms. Isabelle Brooks, who identified herself as Eliot Cavanaugh's executive assistant. Ms. Brooks said that she was speaking to him from her home and that she was hesitant to bother Mr. Cavanaugh after business hours.
"He's in San Francisco this evening. He and his wife went there for dinner and the opera," she explained.
"Has he got a beeper?" Ms. Brooks acknowledged that the chairman did.
"Beep him," Janek told her. "Tell him to call me. This is an emergency."
He gave her the Squad Room number, then settled back to wait.
Twenty minutes later, Cavanaugh called. "This better be good," he said.
"When did you send Kane to New York?"
"You paged me out of the opera to ask me that?"
Janek imagined him standing in his tuxedo at a pay phone outside the men's room at the San Francisco Opera House.
"Yeah, that's why I paged you," Janek said. "Answer the question, please."
"I don't remember exactly when we sent him. What difference does it make?"
"Here's the difference," Janek said. "A few days ago a detective named Sue Burke from my office called to tell you Dietz had been shot in the head. You told her you were sending your security man, Kane, to New York to try and retrieve your stolen chip. Wanna know what I think, Mr.
Cavanaugh? I think that wasn't true. I think you sent Kane here to look for Dietz before we told you he was shot."
A pause on the other end. Janek imagined Cavanaugh's forehead popping sweat as he tried to dream up a decent response.
"And why would you think that, Lieutenant Janek?"
"Because I think Kane killed Dietz. Now I think he's killed someone else."
"That's wild!"
"Maybe. But if it turns out you lied about when you sent him, you could be implicated, too."
Janek heard a quick intake of breath. "This is really absurd."
"Then clear yourself by answering the question. Or would you rather consult counsel first?"
"You must be out of your mind!"
"It's a simple question-did you lie or didn't you?"
Cavanaugh went silent. When he spoke again his voice was calm. "As soon as Dietz's wife told us he'd gone to New York, we sent Kane there to look for him." "That was before Detective Burke told you Dietz was dead?"
"I don't recall. Events were occurring fairly fast."
Slick bastard!
"Okay, Mr. Cavanaugh, we'll leave it like that for now. As for your Omega-wanna know what I think?"
"Tell me."
"Kane's gone rogue. If he finds it first, he's going to shop it around for his own account."
At noon the next day, with the squad reassembled, each of the detectives related his results.
Ray, stroking his mustache, reported that Kane had checked into the Savoy the evening Dietz was killed, and had checked out the day he'd met with Janek. Hotel records showed he hadn't made any calls from his room.
Ray had begun a methodical check of all hotels and motels in the city, so far with no result.
Sue had found only one criminal defense attorney named Thatcher. His first name was Gilford and he was known as an efficient and very high-priced lawyer. As for Feldstein, there were numerous doctors with that name, so Sue, after consulting with Aaron, had called the Bureau of Controlled Substances in Albany. According to the bureau's computer records, a Dr. Isaac Feldstein, with offices at 780 Park Avenue, had written a large number of prescriptions for triazolam.
Aaron had found out more about Kane's last days in the L.A. sheriff's office. After he was reassigned, there was noticeable deterioration-suspected drug use, then an assault on a fellow officer.
The incident was ugly. The assaulted officer was female. Kane had picked up a pair of scissors, threatened to slash her up. Charges were filed.
When it was clear that Kane was going to be dismissed, he resigned and moved to Northern California.
"I talked to the victim," Aaron said. "She says Kane took a swipe at her breasts."
Janek thought a moment. He had only Kane's and Cavanaugh's word that Sonoron's research department had developed the Omega. It seemed just as likely that Sonoron had stolen some of the ideas incorporated in the Omega, or had obtained them by bribing the employees of competitors.
"Right now it doesn't matter why Cavanaugh hired Kane," he said. "All that matters is that he's probably killed two people and he's out there now looking for a third."
Janek began to pace. "Think about it. For a double agent, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. First, Dietz steals the Omega. Then Sonoron sends Kane after him to get it back. Meantime, purely by coincidence, Dietz wanders down to his hotel bar, where he gets picked up by our redhead, Gelsey. Dietz invites her upstairs, she drugs him, cleans him out and, in the process, finds the Omega. She takes it and leaves. "
"At this point Dietz is still alive?" Sue asked.
"Yes. But then Kane shows up. He's been tracking Dietz. Maybe he saw the bar pickup. Maybe he even saw Gelsey leave the room. So, okay, he finds Dietz drugged out asleep. He tosses the room, but… no Omega. What goes through his mind?" "The redhead took it," Sue said.
Janek stopped pacing. He turned to his squad members. Their eyes were on him. "What's Kane going to do?"
The detectives looked at one another.
"The moral choice is to wait until Dietz wakes up, then enlist his help in tracking down the girl. What would be his odds? Probably not too good, considering we haven't found her yet." They nodded. Janek continued.
"There's also the criminal choice. Pump a bullet into Dietz, turn the robbery into a homicide, then stand back and let us do the legwork.
Suppose we find the redhead, or at least turn up a lead. All Kane's gotta do is tag along, and then, at the right moment, jump ahead. If I'm right, that's just what he's done." Janek paused. "If Kane finds Gelsey and gets the Omega, he's got no motivation to return it to Sonoron.
Instead, he'll do the very thing he says Dietz was going to do-sell it to the competition. If Kane does that, he'll never be suspected. After all, he didn't steal the Omega-Dietz did. Who'll know he found it? No one. So, if he's successful, he's home free." Janek asked what they thought.
"Pretty theory," Aaron said, "but if you're right, and Kane forced Kirstin to tell him where to find Diana, then he really is ahead of us."
Aaron paused. "What do we do now?"
"Play catch up," Janek said. "We're in a race. The winner gets to Gelsey first. We've got to get to her before Kane kills her for that lousy chip."
When he returned from lunch, Stoney was waiting for him. The short bomb squad investigator, looking solemn, asked to speak to him alone.
"Okay, what's up?" Janek said after he closed his office door. "We're busy. We're working a double homicide. So, if you don't mind… "
Stoney stared at him. "I'm working a homicide, too."
"Whose?"
"Howard Clury's." Janek sat down. "Tell me more."
"A car bomb is handmade. You don't buy one at your local sporting-goods store. Every guy who makes one has his own way of doing it. That's what we call the bomb maker's signature."
"Go on."
"The bomb set under your car and the bomb that blew away Clury nine years ago-without getting technical about it, they were similarly signed."
Janek picked up the police sketch of Gelsey. He remembered what Kirstin had said-that Gelsey referred to writing on her marks as "signing" her work.
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"It kind of eliminates the possibility that Clury was killed in a narcotics hit," Stoney said.
"There probably weren't all that many people who thought that's what happened even back then."
Stoney stared at him, then exhaled. "You and I have a problem, Frank."